Raising Awareness:

Psychological Abuse and the Hidden Injuries

Important research reveals that psychological abuse may affect women’s overall psychological well being to the same extent as physical abuse, and may actually be predictive of physical violence.

Psychological abuse seriously endangers women (and men, see Resources), yet it is the aspect of domestic violence that remains the most elusive. Often I hear, “It can’t be that bad. She was never hit.”  Or, “I’ve never been hit. He’s just not nice to me. Perhaps, I’m making too much of it.”  If you’ve heard this or believe this, now is the time to understand this is absolutely not true. Physical abuse and threats are legally defined as criminal and labeled “domestic violence.” When physical violence and threats are not present, the conclusion, although false, is that no abuse is taking place. Clearly, physical violence gets our attention. However, you need to know psychological abuse is the rest of the story.
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